Assignment Help!

I was just wondering if someone could steer me in the righ direction for one of my upcoming assignments.

I dont really have an economics background, I am an Electronic Engineer so I was just hoping someone could give me a few pointers.

I am doing a Masters in Finance at a top European Business School and was given the following assignment:

"How could an understanding of economics assist an analyst for a venture capitalist fund in appraising his/her investment decisions?
In what circumstances if any, could such a decision ever be made without economic analysis"

The word limit is 1500 words, so it doesnt have to be in too much detail.